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The film Interstella 5555 – The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003) is the visual realization of Daft Punk’s album Discovery:

  • the film’s soundtrack consists of the album’s songs, i.e., watching the film is like listening to the album
  • the film’s visuals consist of the album’s music videos

Was Interstella 5555 the first film of this/similar kind (leaving aside home videos or fan productions)? Is it the only one?

4 Answers 4

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'Convoy' by CW McCall (Bill Fries) was a 1975 song that was adapted into a film of the same name.

If you listen to the song you'll find that the story it tells is recounted almost word for word in the film.

The song

The film

Additionally, 'The Wall' by Pink Floyd was made into a very successful film...

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    +1 for The Wall, which was definitely the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the question title. Might not be the first, but definitely one of the more famous examples. May 5, 2015 at 3:53
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The earliest one I'm aware of was made for Matt Johnson's The The, 'Infected' album in 1986. Though it is actually a series of individual videos, there is one for every track on the album & they were shown in cinema & on TV as a single piece when the album was released.

from Wikipedia -

The completed film was premiered at the Electric Cinema in west London, and first shown on British television on Channel 4 on 16 December 1986, followed by a showing on MTV. It was shown at independent cinemas across the world and released on VHS video early in 1987. It has never been released on DVD.

It's still available as a single video on Vimeo [though the quality is poor], parts are available on Youtube but not the entire single piece, & Amazon still lists it, though 'out of stock'.

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The Who released both Tommy and Quadrophenia, which were eventually made into movies. Tommy, the album, was released in 1969 and Quadrophenia in 1973. The movies were released in 1975 and 1979 respectively.

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Unless you count ballets made into silent films, Yellow Submarine(1968) is the earliest I can think of.

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  • 1
    Not the same thing -- Yellow Submarine, the album, was a soundtrack to the film (although the individual song itself came first). Sep 17, 2015 at 15:56
  • Ah, I learned something new today! Obviously, I'm not a massive Beatles fan.
    – user1103
    Sep 17, 2015 at 16:13
  • As long as you're not afraid of learning, it's all good!
    – Johnny Bones
    Sep 17, 2015 at 16:27

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